It’s been almost two weeks since my last post and am in need of a small break. Nothing too much to update on. Basically life in the land of the accidental aikidoist consists of three things:
1.) Aikido (4-6 times a week).
2.) Graduate school, studying for my Master’s in education and teaching credential for elementary schools students (once a week, 6 hours for that one day with the occasional Saturday class. Again 6 hours).
3.) Being jobless.
#3 took a backseat for a while because of the homework load but since finishing a major project this past week. I’ve feeling the pinch of nothing being productive to the rest of society! My story is a rather long one but among other things there’s a certain need of earning your way through life. Call it my “need to work” or whatever but finding a job nowadays is a rather depressive venture given the fact that people (and/or their respective industries) won’t hand out experience without experience…nor will people look favorably on people who wish to start over/change careers!
I have the urge to venture to other martial arts, however that requires money. No job = no money! Currently that’s what has been keeping me from experimenting. At the moment though I have a sweat deal with my current Sensei where I am co-teaching the kids classes in exchange for a significantly reduced rate and am grateful for this. In addition there’s been a lot of “pressure” brewing in my life both on and off the mat, most of it very personal. But my feeling is that they will play a very significant process of dividends in the long run (I hope!).
You can almost say that I am going through a transitional phase. An ongoing theme in Aikido is the ability to cope with changes in situations – be it in a fight, classroom, work, what not. The statement is that when there’s pressure in the situation, that is a sign of transition; a “gateway” to a new level where you can cope with the situation and act with the appropriate action given the circumstance.
I can only hope that I will act in the appropriate manner and (in my case) grab the opportunities that present themselves for me to get out of my blues!
This is the dragon warrior - when he's not eating.
In other news, I’m officially a freelance writer! You can find me at yflproductions.elance.com. Now don’t bum rush me yet! I’m still fixing stuff around and I’m not taking assignments yet!
Finally, look to some form of martial themed posts this month. I have big plans for May and am looking forward to writing the material!
The Journey of an Accidental Aikidoist 
It is all training brother, hang in there!!
Indeed brutha. Indeed.
Hard work pays the bills – in and out of the dojo.
Keep the momentum pushing forward and know that nothing lasts forever (including those blues).
Peace,
CTK
I sure know how school gets in the way of everything else! When I was going for my BS and MBA my wife and step-daughter called me Shrek (akka Ogre)!
The job thing – yep money makes the world go round and it is better if you enjoy what you do. I used to own a Tracy’s karate studio in the 1980’s and did not have the business acumen to make it work over a couple of years – ended up selling it.
But… it was the best experience of my life – I got to wake up at 5 minutes to 10am and run the half-block to the school in my bare feet – start teaching my first student! 🙂
I might have a had a chain of schools going if only I had business sense back then.
Evaluate your risks and follow your dreams. You cannot lose if you take a measured approach. Just like the martial arts.
CTK & John – Thank you for the your kind and supportive words. I happen to come across an article on Yahoo! news just after I wrote this post that speaks quite accurately of my current situation. Thought I’d share it: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110414/ts_usnews/thesmarterwaytochangecareers
Hope to see you around!